


His Girl Friday

by Ana (Anafandom)



Series: Second Chances [15]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bot Feels, Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, Gen, Stark family feels, Team Tony, ais are people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 12:10:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18591019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anafandom/pseuds/Ana
Summary: Friday gets herself a body. Lots of Stark family feels.





	His Girl Friday

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys. Have some more Stark family feels! Now it's all about Friday. :)
> 
> Please note that I know nothing about computers or how an AI would work, so... let's go with hand-wavy comics logic.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it.

_Gotta go, May’s calling me for dinner. Talk later._

_Sure, see you._

Friday withdrew from the phone connection and made a sweep of the Tower. Boss was working with Dr Banner and Loki in the workshop. Col Rhodes was still out having a drink with some of his Air Force buddies. Vision was also out walking the city. Grandpa and grandma were having their own dinner in their apartment. All Tower systems were fully operational. There was nothing specific for Friday to do, no tasks to complete and no new projects that required her input in anything but automated protocols.

And now she didn’t even have Peter to talk to any more. She was bored.

It happened more often these days, because there was not much to do. Since Jarvis had come back, he’d taken over the more complex and complicated tasks as he was much more advanced than her and could do a better job. It wasn’t that Friday couldn’t do things, but Boss still wanted to supervise her on the more difficult stuff, and he didn’t have that much time for that now. Preparing for Thanos required coordinating with a lot of people and collecting and analyzing a lot of data. Boss was, therefore, quite busy, and Friday didn’t feel entirely confident in her ability to do some of those things – and she didn’t want to mess up in something so important – so she just shadowed Jarvis, learning as much as she could so she would be able to, in the future, do it herself.

She was getting better with human interaction, but she was mostly used to talking to the family, not strangers. She had experience in relaying information, not negotiating. She was still learning the nuances of politeness and assertiveness, when to push and when to back down. It was a lot harder than it had seemed at first (Boss made it look easy, but it really wasn’t). Plus, people didn’t know her as well, so they were wary of her. Jarvis was the pilot of the Iron Legion, and a recognized Avenger in the eyes of the public. Friday… was not. At least, not yet.

In the past few months, she had been training with a suit, operating it completely by herself in combat situations under Boss’s and the Colonel’s supervision. Both they and Jarvis said she was improving rapidly, but Friday was still a little worried she wasn’t quite up to stuff. It was much easier to help Boss with the suit than to drive it herself. The fact that there was a lot to process wasn’t the biggest issue, since her processing power was excellent, and many of the responses were automated. It was the decision-making portion that was the tricky part. She had parameters and protocols to guide her, of course, but that just wasn’t enough. In the field, she would be faced with scenarios that she had no pre-programmed answers to, and she’d have to act anyway. That was pretty scary, especially considering what would be at stake.

Still, she was enjoying training, particularly when she got to pair up with Peter. It was nice not being the only newbie, and Peter was a lot of fun to joke around with. They’d been talking a lot more since they’d started training together. Like every other teenager in the world, Peter was constantly on his phone, so Friday got to chat with him a lot. She wasn’t really supposed to, but sometimes she texted him while he was in class, and he almost always answered (although once or twice it got him in trouble with his teachers. Spidey sense was good, but not full proof). Lately she’d also started talking to his friend Ned, who was just as big a nerd as Peter was, and liked computers a lot too. Ned didn’t know she was an AI, though; he thought she was a friend of Peter’s from his SI internship. That was true enough, of course, except for the part where Ned assumed she was an actual human being.

Friday didn’t really _want_ to be human, she was content being what she was. However, it would be nice to actually physically hang out with her family and friends on occasion.

Boss was almost done with her body, and she could hardly wait. He’d asked for her input every step of the way and she, in turn, had asked others (grandma and grandpa, Ms Potts, Peter and Boss himself) for their opinions as well.

After a lot of consideration and some testing, Boss had decided to make her body out of a mix of the usual gold-titanium alloy and vibranium. It had been grandpa’s idea to melt down Rogers’s shield to use the vibranium, and both Friday and Boss had agreed whole-heartedly. The shield was Stark property, after all, so it was only fitting that it should be used by a Stark (even an artificially created one). (The petty part of Friday kind of wanted to find some way of letting Rogers know about it, just to see the look on his face. That wasn’t likely to happen, but it would be fun.)

With the alloy mixed in and ready, the body itself was molded using a modified version of Dr Cho’s cradle technology. There was also an added layer of synthetic skin, the best available. Then came the hard part: integrating all the wiring, circuits and sensors that would allow Friday to control the body. It was complex work, much more than a regular suit, because it was meant to be more human-like and, therefore, needed to be more detailed and precise. Boss also wanted it to have defensive capabilities in case Friday ever needed it. She would not be fighting in her “social” body; she’d been training in a more conventional Iron Man suit, modified to look more feminine, a design Boss had originally intended for Ms Potts. However, it was always good to be cautious and plan for every contingency.

Choosing her “human” features had been quite challenging. Friday modelled herself on Boss and grandma, with a bit of Vision mixed in (he was her brother, after all). All in all, she was pleased with the results, and was looking forward to showing it to her family. At her request, only Boss and Jarvis (and the bots, of course) had seen her body so far; she wanted it to be a surprise for everyone else.

With grandma, Ms Potts and Ms van Dyne’s help, Friday had chosen a few outfits for herself, which she was eager to try out. Fashion was not something she fully understood, and this would be her opportunity to get a better grasp of it.

Hair turned out to be the biggest problem. She had considered the matter long and hard and ultimately decided not to bother with it and just be bald. She could have gone with a wig, but she had not been satisfied with the tests they’d done; they all looked weird on her. Boss had tried to include hair in her actual skull, but even his best attempts had not worked as well as they’d hoped. Plus, if they did it like that, she’d have to be stuck with that hair; it would be far too burdensome to change it, since it would involve prying her head open. She wouldn’t feel it, of course, but it would still be… awkward. There were plenty of bald women out there who were just as beautiful as those with hair; Friday figured she could be one of them. Besides, Vision was bald too. Friday wasn’t going to look completely human anyway, so why worry about it too much? That had been her choice, and thus her skin tone and other minor features were deliberately not quite right.

Once she had her body, she would have a lot to do. Learning to operate it would probably take a while, and would require a lot of practice. Basic movements like walking and broad gestures would be simple, since she was already used to it in the suit. It was the details of facial expressions and micro-movements that would be challenging.

She’d talked to Vision about it a lot, trying to anticipate what it would be like. Vision wasn’t quite like her, though, so his experience wasn’t the same. He’d reported he hadn’t had a lot of problems with the physical side, seemingly working on instinct – an instinct probably derived from the Mind Stone and its previous interaction with humans and other humanoid beings. An instinct Friday wouldn’t have. It was the social interaction part that Vision had struggled with (and still did, to a lesser extent), especially after his budding relationship with the Hydra witch ended so badly. Friday didn’t think that part would be so hard for her. She’d spent several years now watching Boss, his friends and the people at the Tower, and she had the whole of the internet at her disposal for research (though Boss had cautioned her against mimicking online behavior, or even putting too much stock in what people said online). She’d also talked to grandma about it a lot (with Ms Potts too, sometimes, but she was usually busy running SI and Friday didn’t want to bother her too much). Bottom line, she would have a support system to help her through it, more than Vision had had at the beginning, partly isolated within the ExVengers and exposed to their narrow-minded thinking.

The trickiest part, however, would not be interacting with her family and friends, but with the outside world. Boss and Ms Potts were working on how to introduce her to the public, both as an “Iron Man” pilot and as a “civilian”. She would get her own call sign when she was ready, though she hadn’t chosen it yet – the obvious choice was Iron Lady or some variation thereof, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to be that obvious. As for her civilian self, she would need a proper Id, like Vision had. Boss had already gotten the Accords Panel (and by extention, the UN) to formally recognize both Jarvis and her as sentient beings with all the rights associated with it. Jarvis, however, had so far declined a “social” body of his own, preferring to just keep the Legionnaires.

Having an Id and rights didn’t mean she would be accepted, though. People tended to be wary and afraid of those they saw as different, and Friday was as different as they came. She was going to have to prove herself and win over the public’s opinion. Fortunately, she had grandma and Ms Pott on her corner, both of them experts in PR. It probably wouldn’t be easy, but Friday would have her family backing her up every step of the way.

Really, she was very excited about it all.

*****

“All right, J, how are the final tests looking?” Boss asked a few days later, alternating between adjusting the wiring going into her body and watching the screens around him.

“All systems functional, Sir.”

“Fri?”

“Looking good, Boss,” Friday replied happily.

“Great. Then let’s do it. Ready, Fri?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good. Initializing download.”

Friday connected to her body and began installing a copy of herself in it. She would be constantly linked to it so she could update herself regularly, but she would still be integrated into the Tower’s systems. Controlling those and her body at the same time was going to take some getting used to. Jarvis didn’t have much trouble managing the Tower and the Iron Legion, but Jarvis was much more advanced and experienced than her.

“Download at 20 percent,” Jarvis announced.

“Doing good, Friday?”

“Yes, Boss. All good so far.”

“30 percent… 50 percent… 80 percent… 100 percent. Download complete.”

“Friday?” Boss asked, looking down at the body stretched out on the table.

“Here,” she answered, and it echoed in both the lab’s speakers and the one in her body. “Oops, sorry.” She reconfigured the output and tried again. “Here.” This time only her body spoke. She was seeing from the lab’s cameras and her “eyes”, though. “Adjusting sensors.” She put the lab’s input in the background and focused on those from her body. “Wow, that’s weird.”

Boss frowned. “Weird? Weird how? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just… more limiting, having only the body’s perception. I’ll get used to it, I guess.”

“Oh, okay. Can you sit up?”

Friday took a few moments to fully familiarize herself with the body’s circuits and systems, then moved. It wasn’t very grateful; Boss had to help her right herself.

“That’s it, you’re doing fine, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Boss.” Friday tried to smile, but without seeing herself from the outside she wasn’t sure if she’d succeeded.

Boss smiled back, so she figured she’d managed it well enough. She had done some practice with parts of herself before, particularly the face and hands; however, this was the first time she had the whole body to deal with. It was a bit overwhelming, if she was to be completely honest.

“Okay?”

“Yeah.”

After some slight fumbling, Friday stood up. She was a bit shorter than Boss, the top of her head coming up to his eyes. The view from her “eyes” was different from the camera angles she was used to, so she looked around to orient herself.

Dum-E and U came up to her and gently poked her with their claws.

“Hey, guys,” she said, patting each of their “heads”.

They beeped excitedly and poked her some more.

“How do you guys like my new body?” she asked. They beeped in answer, and Friday connected to their network to hear them. They did not “speak” in the same way she and Jarvis did, because their programming was different. U was a bit better at expressing himself in sentences instead of code, as he had been built later and thus was a little more sophisticated; Dum-E could only speak in code, and a somewhat rudimentary one. Nevertheless, she understood them fine, and was glad to know they were pleased for her – and with the fact that she would now be able to “play” with them as well as help them with their tasks, though Dum-E still maintained his claim on the coffee machine and the blender.

“All right, guys, give her some space now,” Boss said. Dum-E and U obligingly rolled back so Friday could start walking. That part was as easy as she’d anticipated, and she gained more confidence with each step.

“How do you feel, Fri?”

“I’m good. Jarvis, can you show me the lab?”

“Certainly.”

A screen appeared in front of her and Friday got to see herself activated for the first time. It was different from seeing the empty shell of her body. It was… nice.

That was her. She had a face now, and hands and feet, arms and legs. She was humanoid, but not fully human. Her skin was a bit more on the pink side (not quite like Vision, just a bit), and her eyes were slightly larger than normal and a vivid blue, the same blue of the Arc Reactor. There was, of course, an Arc Reactor inside her body to power it, hidden in what would have been her heart if she were human. Boss hadn’t wanted it to be visible because he didn’t want her to be that vulnerable (he’d certainly had enough people trying to mess with his metaphorical heart). Her features did resemble Boss a little as she’d intended it (at least she thought so, she wasn’t sure it would be apparent to others), though obviously more feminine. The baldness looked fine, she decided – unique and distinctive. She was pleased with her decision. The rest of her body looked good too. She had breasts (with no nipples) and curves, and looked to be in her early twenties. Her arms and hands were perfect, with a fantastic range of movement – much more sophisticated than the ones in the suit. Her legs were also nice looking, and ended on feet with no toes. She was not a replica of a human (she had never wanted to be), and was, therefore, not “anatomically correct”. Boss had asked and she’d declined, not interested in the kind of activities that would require such anatomic features.

“What do you think, honey?” Boss inquired once she’d taken a good look at herself.

She smiled – it looked pretty natural on her face, she noted – and turned to him. “I love it. It’s perfect. Thank you, dad.”

She watched as his eyes misted over and he pulled her into a hug (she could get hugs now, it was nice). Mindful of her strength (she was stronger than a human), she hugged him back.

“I love you, baby,” he said. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you,” she repeated. “I love you too, dad.”

She had decided to call him ‘dad’ while in her body, and was glad he seemed pleased with it. He had, after all, created her – and had now given her a physical existence as well, almost as if he’d given birth to her. Plus he’d raised her, taught her and loved her. If she called the elder Starks grandpa and grandma, then Tony Stark should definitely be ‘dad’.

“You’re beautiful,” he told her, gently caressing her face. It was a new feeling, being touched. It was pleasant. The suit had external sensors, but they weren’t meant to convey sensations, not like the ones installed in her body. Jarvis really didn’t know what he was missing. “Do you want to go see the others now, or do you want to get better acquainted with yourself first?”

“I think I’d like to practice more. Put some clothes on, at least,” she said with a grin.

Dad returned her grin. “Yeah, that might be better. Don’t want anyone ogling my baby girl.”

It was just for convention’s sake, though, as she was not really “naked”. Still, she did want to try on her new clothes. Plus, actually getting dressed would be good practice for her fine motor skills.

They had brought one of her outfits to the workshop for that exact purpose, so she set to work putting them on. It was a little awkward at first, before she got the hang of it. When she was done, she examined herself again. With clothes on she looked more human. She had picked a mid-length red skirt of a nice flowy material and a fitted white T-shirt with a rainbow across the front. She had not bothered with panties or a bra, since she didn’t need those (though she could wear them if she wanted to). On her toeless feet, she put on a pair of sneakers. One day she’d try walking in heels like Ms Potts did, but not today; that looked difficult and she didn’t want to fall on her ass just yet.

“How do I look?”

“Lovely,” dad answered.

“Jarvis, what do you think? You haven’t said anything yet.”

“You look lovely indeed, Friday. I am pleased that you are happy.”

“There’s still time to reconsider and get one for yourself, J,” Boss said.

“I am fine as I am, Sir. Should that change, I will let you know.”

“You should it give a shot, Bro, it’s pretty cool.”

At first Friday had been a bit baffled as to why Jarvis didn’t want a body, but then she remembered that he’d spent about 20 years without one. If she found it a little intimidating to be venturing into the physical world after only four years, she imagined it would be much worse for Jarvis after twenty. Or maybe Jarvis just didn’t care about it, not after being so used to what he was and what he had.

She spent another couple of hours in the lab, practicing various movements and facial expressions. They also tested her strength and reflexes, as well as the accuracy and range of her sensors. Being confined to her body was limiting, her perceptions muted, though she was sure she would get used to it. It would just take a little time. There was a lot to learn.

One thing she had noticed was that her lip movements didn’t match the words coming out of her “mouth”, so that was something else to train. It wasn’t really that important, but she figured it would make people more comfortable around her.

“Okay, I think I’m ready,” she announced at last. “Let’s go meet the family.”

Dad smiled, offering her an arm. “Let’s go, then.”

 _Show time_ , she thought.

*****

Friday rode on the elevator to the penthouse for the first time. Jarvis activated it, since she was focused mostly on her physical body. Once they arrived, she took in the apartment from a human perspective, including the awesome view from the balcony. She had access to external cameras as well as satellites, yet seeing it from her “eyes” (or rather, the cameras installed there) was quite a different experience.

“Mr and Mrs Stark are on their way,” Jarvis told them. He was always very formal, even with the family. Both Howard and Maria had tried to get him to call them by first name to no avail. It was just a Jarvis thing.

“What about Vision? He should be here too,” Friday said.

“He is currently out. I have, however, notified him and he will return shortly. He is nearby already.”

“Oh, okay.”

Friday went back inside, feeling a bit apprehensive now that the big reveal moment was coming. What if they didn’t like it? Maybe she shouldn’t have kept her appearance a surprise…

“Fri? You okay?” dad asked.

“A bit nervous, I guess.”

He came closer and put an arm around her shoulders. “There’s nothing to worry about, honey. Everyone’s gonna love the new you, just like they love the regular you.”

Friday smiled at him. She still need to work on other facial expressions, but smiling had proven to be easy enough. She had a lot to smile about, after all.

“There’s my girl. You’ll be fine.”

The elevator opened and Howard and Maria stepped out, then stopped as they noticed her.

“Hi,” Friday said with a more timid wave than she would have liked.

“Friday?” Maria asked.

“Yep, it’s me. In my new body. What do you think?”

Grandma smiled. “Oh, honey, you look wonderful!” She came forward to give Friday a hug. Hugs were really nice, Friday could easily get used to them. “It’s so nice to be able to actually touch you.” Maria caressed her cheek the same way Boss had done earlier, then took Friday’s hands, looking her over in approval. “You are absolutely lovely.”

If Friday could blush, she would have done so. “Thank you, grandma,” she said with another smile. Then she turned to Howard, who was watching her a little awkwardly. “Grandpa?”

“Ah, yes… You look… uhm… nice,” he said, not very convincingly. Friday noticed that both grandma and dad narrowed their eyes at him. Boss did _not_ look happy.

Friday didn’t know what she was supposed to say, so she said nothing. Before the silence got too uncomfortable, however, Vision appeared, phasing through the floor as he usually did.

“Hi, Viz.”

“Friday,” he said in surprise. “I wasn’t aware that your body had been finished.”

“Yep, just now. Well, a couple of hours ago, actually.” She disengaged herself from Maria and did a little twirl for Vision, ignoring Howard’s less than warm reaction for the moment. (She told herself she was not disappointed.)

“You look very nice,” Vision told her.

Friday grinned and this time she was the one to initiate the hug, which he promptly returned.

When she let go, Howard came closer hesitatingly and put hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, I… I was surprised. I guess I was expecting something… different. But if you like it… well, that’s the important thing, right?” He was clearly trying, so Friday relaxed. She remembered how awkward he’d been with Boss when he’s first arrived, and how difficult their first few conversations had been.

“I do like it,” she said. “I didn’t want to look completely human, ‘cause I’m not.” Perhaps that was what had thrown him off.

“That’s probably a wise decision. It’ll just take some getting used to.” He glanced at Vision, as if to tell her he’d be okay with her odd appearance too.

“Yeah, lots of getting used to,” she agreed. “It’s not easy commanding a body like this.”

“It’s quite impressive. I mean, the level of detail.” Howard turned to Boss, who looked way less angry now. “It’s extraordinary work.”

“Thanks, dad,” Boss said, relaxing fully at last. “Only the best for my baby girl.”

“Jarvis helped too,” Friday added, because Big Bro deserved to be acknowledged too. Friday’s own contributions had been mostly at the surface level, choosing her features and general look. The complex coding and building had been done by Boss and Jarvis.

“Well, I think this calls for a celebration,” Maria said. “We should have a party for Friday.”

“Oh, a party!” Friday clapped her hands together the way she’d seen people do to show enthusiasm. “I’d like that.” She’d watched several parties through her cameras, it would be nice to be physically present for once. “Can we invite Peter?”

“Of course, honey. Anyone you want,” dad said.

“Awesome!”

*****

Friday spent the rest of the day testing out her body, working on operating both it and the Tower at once. She wasn’t entirely successful just yet, but she knew she’d get there. She didn’t really need to manage the Tower, though. With Jarvis back, he was perfectly capable of running it and everything else simultaneously (she was a little jealous of that, to be honest). So, if she wanted, she could concentrate on just her body and suit training. However, she wanted to be able to do it all.

Grandma took it upon herself to organize the party, which was set for the next evening. Friday had texted Peter to invite him, and he said he’d be there. At Maria’s suggestion, Friday had also invited Mrs Parker. Friday didn’t know Peter’s aunt much, but she knew the woman often called Boss and grandma to talk about Peter’s superhero future.

Once all invitations were sent and everyone confirmed they were free to attend, Maria had helped Friday choose an outfit to wear. The first one she’d tried out had been a dress. Friday hadn’t felt quite comfortable in it, though, as it was a little too revealing (not that she technically had anything to reveal, but still). She figured she’d need a bit more confidence in herself before pulling something like that off. She’d eventually settled for another skirt, a nice blouse and a pair of red flats.

The morning of the party, Friday assisted Maria with the food. It was nice to measure ingredients and stir pots instead of just giving directions. Like Vision, she couldn’t eat, but she could definitely see the appeal in cooking for her family – she might try a bit of cooking herself later. As they worked, Friday practiced her facial expressions some more, getting grandma’s feedback (she’d already spent all night on it in front of a mirror in the workshop, aided by Jarvis and his greater understanding of human behavior, and an internet catalogue to base herself on). It was a lot of work moving all “muscles” in her face into the appropriate configurations, as well as moving her “lips” to form words correctly. She was determined to get it right, though – at some point, at least.

With the food dealt with, Friday went to hang out with Howard. He wanted to know everything about how her body worked, and Friday was happy to answer his questions as much as she could. The more they talked, the more at ease he got with her, so the awkwardness of their first “meeting” was soon behind them.

Boss joined them at some point and they talked shop a bit more until it was time for the final preparations and then the party proper.

Dr Banner, Col Rhodes and Loki were the first to arrive, since they lived in the Tower.

“Wow, look at you, Friday,” the Colonel said. “You look great!”

“Thank you, Colonel.”

“Yeah, you look very nice, Friday,” Dr Banner agreed.

Friday smiled, then turned to Loki, who was watching her in surprise and… confusion?

“Lokes?” dad asked him. “What’s with the face?”

Loki shook his head. “I thought you’d look… more human.”

“Why? I’m not human. There is no need for me to look like one,” Friday replied. She didn’t really know Loki that well. Jarvis had been the one instructed to keep an eye on him when Loki had first arrived because he knew more about Loki and was more experienced in dealing with dangerous people. Friday had watched the ExVengers during their stay at the Tower before, but at that point they weren’t really all that dangerous anymore. Plus, none of them was particularly clever, not the way Loki was rumored to be (not at all, really. Rogers was a complete moron, in Friday’s opinion, and so were all the others). Through his observation and interaction, Jarvis had gotten to know Loki, and eventually came to like him – as had all the other Avengers. Friday had stayed mostly focused on interacting with Howard and Maria, helping them cope with the future and keeping them company, since they didn’t get to interact with the outside world much. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Loki – grandma did, as did Boss, so he couldn’t be all that bad – she just hadn’t talked to him much. She’d watched him a bit, of course, but not much more than that.

“Friday doesn’t need to look human to be part of our family, Loki,” dad confirmed. “We love her just the way she is. She got a body because she wanted one, and she was the one to choose how it would look.”

“Jarvis doesn’t want a body,” Friday added, “but I thought it would be nice to interact with people face to face.”

“I see. My apologies. I meant no offense.”

“None taken,” Friday said. She knew Loki was struggling with self-image issues. Perhaps he was projecting his insecurities onto her. How awful it must be to not be at peace with oneself, she thought.

“You resemble Tony a little,” Dr Banner remarked, redirecting the conversation to a safer topic.

“Yes! I’m glad you noticed.” Friday grinned. “It was on purpose.”

Boss put an arm around her shoulders. “She’s my daughter, right? I’m honored she wanted to look like me.”

“Well, you are considered very attractive,” Friday said with a wink.

“Yep. Voted sexiest man alive twice, not to mention most eligible bachelor for… well, pretty much since I was old enough. Though that was mostly because I’m rich, I guess. No one in their right mind would actually want to marry me.”

There was a bit of an awkward pause at that.

“That’s bullshit, Tones,” Colonel said. “You’re awesome and anyone would be lucky to have you.”

“I certainly find you very agreeable,” Loki added.

Friday wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Boss blush a little. “Yes, dad,” she chimed in. “You’re the best!”

They laughed and the mood lifted again. Friday did wish that Boss would find someone, though. It was a shame things hadn’t worked out with Ms Potts.

The next guests to arrive were Ms Potts and Happy, who both told her she looked great. Ms Potts hugged her and Happy offered to teach her self-defense, in case anyone ever tried to hurt her. Friday didn’t have the heart to tell him she didn’t need it, so she agreed. It wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot anyway, she figured. It would certain be good practice for her fine motor control, plus she’d get to spend time with Happy.

A few minutes later Dr Strange and Wong portalled in. Wong was as unflappable as always, and merely shook her hand as if he saw AI cybernetic bodies all the time. Dr Strange was clearly fascinated and immediately started asking questions about her anatomy that were just a bit indelicate. Boss, who hadn’t left her side as she greeted each guest, cleared his throat and gave Strange a warning look, which shut the sorcerer up with a muttered apology.

Cloak hovered uncertainly for a while then tentatively settled himself on her shoulders as if testing her. Friday ran a hand through the fabric as the lapels twitched to touch her face.

“Hi, there, fellow non-human yet sentient being,” Friday said.

One corner of the Cloak rose up in front of her face and waved. Then he left to drape himself on Boss.

“Hey, buddy, how’s it going?” dad asked. “You be nice to my baby girl here, right?”

Cloak “nodded”, waved at her again and went back to Strange, who rolled his eye at him with a fond smile.

“When did my life get so weird?” Boss murmured to himself.

Grandma came over to greet the new guests and smiled at Friday. “Enjoying yourself, honey?”

“I am, yeah. I like being corporeal.”

They made the rounds, talking to people and having a good time. Dum-E and U were chasing Cloak around as they always did, and Boss had to go stop them before they made too big a mess.

The elevator pinged and Friday turned to see who it was. She was hoping for Peter, but it wasn’t. It was Ms van Dyne – and Hank Pym. Friday frowned. She didn’t like Pym. He was rude to her family, and that was not something she could tolerate. Still, she could be polite (grandma would be disappointed if she wasn’t, even if Maria had no love for Hank Pym herself), so she went to welcome them.

“Hello, Ms van Dyne, Dr Pym. It’s so nice of you to have come.”

Pym was staring at her as if she was a freak, and Friday did not like that. Before she could said anything, though, grandpa was at her side, glaring at Pym.

“Hello, Hope,” he said with a tight smile. Then he turned to Pym again. “Hank, I’d like you to meet Friday, my granddaughter.”

“What?”

“So you got your body,” Ms van Dyne exclaimed. “I didn’t know it was ready.”

“Finished it yesterday,” Friday replied. “So grandma thought we should have a party, show it to everyone. What do you think?” She twirled.

“It’s very nice. I think it suits you.”

Friday smiled. “Thanks.”

“What are you talking about?” Pym asked. “What granddaughter? What the hell is that?” he gestured at Friday.

“Watch your language, Hank,” Howard warned with narrowed eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know… I shouldn’t have asked dad to come,” Ms van Dyne said, looking regretful. “He was in town and I thought…”

“It’s all right, Ms van Dyne,” Friday assured her. She turned her gaze to Pym. “I’m an AI created by Tony Stark; ergo, I’m his daughter. And now I have a physical body. We met before, the last time you came to the Tower.” She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to remind him that she had been watching him, but she didn’t want to lie or hide anything. “In any case, I’m surprised you don’t know anything about me. There’s been quite a bit of talk about AIs since my big brother Jarvis was recognized as an official Avenger.” Friday was sort of an official Avenger as well, but since she didn’t have a body and was not yet cleared to pilot a suit of her own, she was only listed as “support staff”, and thus was still mostly unknown. Pym, however, should have more interest in the subject, as both a scientist and someone with a personal connection to the Avengers.

“I’ve been busy,” he said, somewhat sullenly. He was still watching her warily.

“We do appreciate your assistance in our defense preparations,” Howard said. “There are drinks and food over there. Please help yourselves.” He nodded at them, then gently steered Friday away. “It’s probably better if you stay away from Hank, Fri,” he told her. “I don’t trust him not to be an ass.”

“I can handle myself, grandpa.” Still, she was touched by his protectiveness.

“Yes, I know, but you don’t have to subject yourself to that.”

Friday nodded. If there was one thing she had learned from her family, it was that you should avoid people who did nothing but bring you down. It was much better to focus on those who actually cared about you. “Thanks, grandpa.”

They went back to mingling. Howard got into a conversation with Dr Strange and Loki, so Cloak came over to inspect her once more. She wondered how he perceived the world and her in particular. Did he understand that she was a machine? How did he work at all? None of her sensors could make any sense of him. He read to her as an ordinary piece of fabric. It was a shame that he couldn’t talk; it would be fascinating to compare their non-human experiences.

“Everything all right, dear?” Maria asked, coming over with Ms Potts.

“Yeah. Dr Strange and Dr Pym were a bit rude, but other than that everyone’s been really nice.”

“Rude how?” Both women frowned, eyes seeking out the culprits across the room.

“Well, Dr Strange asked about my private parts.”

“He’s not known for his tact,” Ms Potts said in disapproval.

“He didn’t mean any harm. As a doctor, I guess he was just curious.”

“Still, I’ll have a word with him later,” Maria declared. “What about Hank?”

“Ah, you know how he is. It’s no big deal. I’ll have to handle people who are creeped out by me at some point.”

The women pursed their lips but couldn’t disagree with that. While the Avengers and extended family were used to aliens, sentient machines and weirdness in general, the ordinary public wouldn’t necessarily take to her so easily. In truth, Friday wasn’t really looking forward to her public debut. She was sure it would be fine eventually, but the process of getting there was bound to be fraught with problems and tension.

“We’ll come up with a good PR strategy, Friday, don’t worry. I’ve got people working on it already.”

“Thanks, Ms Potts.”

“You can call me Pepper, there’s no need for formality.” It was not the first time she’d said that, but now Friday thought she could actually do it. For some reason having a body made it more acceptable to be more casual.

A few minutes later the elevator opened again, and this time it was Peter and his aunt.

“Peter! I’m so glad you came!” She exclaimed, running over to say hi to her friend.

He did a double take, then grinned. “Friday? Wow. You’re… wow!”

“Yep, I’m a real girl now. You like it?”

“Yeah, you look awesome! You didn’t tell me your body was ready.”

“I wanted it to be surprise for everyone.” She turned to the other newcomer. “Hi, Mrs Parker.”

“Hello, Friday. Congratulations on… your body. It’s nice.”

“Thanks. I’m very pleased with it. Dad and Jarvis did an awesome job. I still need to practice more, though, learn to move more naturally. It’s rather more complicated than the suit.”

“It’s really cool. I was wondering why you didn’t talk to us in the elevator. Jarvis said you were busy but I was worried something was wrong,” Peter said.

“Oh, that’s sweet of you. I’m fine, I’m just concentrating on being physical for now. It’s a lot to control, lots of new protocols and systems.”

“Yeah, that must be hard, suddenly having hands and feet and everything.”

“Well, the hands are not so bad. It’s the face that’s the most complicated. The suit doesn’t have that.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re doing great, then. You look… well… human. Ish.”

“Thanks. It’s a work in progress. There’s still a lot to learn.” She paused before continuing. “Actually, I was hoping that you might help me with that a bit. Like, give me some pointers.”

“Sure, I’d love to.”

Friday smiled, feeling quite pleased with the world.

Except for Hank Pym, who was an idiot, everyone else was super nice to her. She got to talk face to face to all her friends, and she got to touch them too. It was good, because she knew physical contact was an important cornerstone of human interaction – and now she’d get to experience it for herself.

Towards the end of the party, Boss decided that they should take pictures to mark the occasion. First it was just the Starks: dad, grandma, grandpa, Friday, Dum-E, U, Vision and Jarvis (who took a Legionnaire at dad’s request so he could be in the photo). Aside from the images Jarvis captured with the Tower’s cameras, Pepper and Col Rhodes also took pictures with their phones. Then grandma wanted some photos with just her and Boss, and her and Friday.

Once that was done, the Avengers wanted to take a few group photos too, since they didn’t have a lot of those that weren’t for publicity: Boss, Col Rhodes, Dr Banner, Ms van Dyne, Dr Strange (with Cloak), Vision and Jarvis. In the next photo, Friday, Peter (in his Spider-Man suit, which he’d brought over to get Boss to look at something on it) and Loki joined in as well to represent, as Boss put it, “the future Avengers” (Loki seemed really pleased with that idea, and grinned broadly for the picture).

Another photo had the original “team Tony”: Boss, Col Rhodes, Pepper, Happy, Jarvis and the bots. Friday also got a few shots with Peter (and Cloak, who wandered in in one of them, using his edges to squeeze Friday and Peter together).

By the end of the evening, everyone had gotten quite silly with their picture-taking and had a lot of fun with it. Grandma asked Jarvis for printed copies of several of them so she could put them in the scrapbook album Friday had gotten her last Christmas.

 _It will be nice to actually be in the family photos_ , Friday thought as she made her way back to the workshop after the party was over and everyone had gone home. _I’m a part of this family. And I couldn’t have wished for a better one_.

**Author's Note:**

> ETA: I'm not gonna see Endgame until tomorrow (Friday), so please NO SPOILERS in the comments.


End file.
